Chapter 181: Martial Technique And Soul
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After the monumental beating he received, Vlad sighed in relief that it was finally over. Although the beating was pretty damn brutal, he learned a few things through that battle, and he definitely felt he had improved his fighting style to an extent. He was also managing to find a way to fight on foot while skipping the three-step paralysis by timing a small, floaty jump, though it was still in its early stages.
He felt that if he continued sparring like this with his mother or other powerful people who knew how to wield weapons or had already mastered them, he could improve drastically. However, that also required a lot of annoying effort, and Paul had started playing this game because he wanted to chill out and have a good time. It was a dilemma whether he had to go hard on this or simply rely on skills and equipment.
After all, it seemed that this game had an extra layer of knowledge and learning. Even as he grew stronger, it wasn't just about gathering resources, ranking up, and leveling skills. There was more depth to it, such as a deep understanding of gameplay mechanics, the interactions of abilities and magic with the environment, learning and improving martial arts, understanding their fundamentals, and more.
And the game system had no qualms about baiting him to do it…
Ding!
[You have successfully passed the {Special Character Event}: [Spar With Your Mother And Earn Her Approval]!]
[You have successfully passed the Special Character Event, managing to earn the approval of your ruthless Vampire Mother through your battle against her. You showed her your complete ability over the blade and your incredible, relentless tenacity.]
[Your Vampire Mother is now looking forward to sparring with you. The more the two of you spar together, the more your Bond as Mother and Son will increase, and the stronger you will grow.]
[Your Strength Stat has increased by +1,000.]
[Your Vitality Stat has increased by +1,000.]
[You have unlocked the Special Stat: [Martial Technique]!]
[Martial Technique]: [A unique Stat that can only be unlocked and increased through rigorous physical training, the understanding of a weapon's usage and mastery, and enlightenment through battle. Increases all Physical Abilities and Physical Stats by +1% with every 1,000 Stats. This Stat or its bonuses cannot be lowered by any Penalty or Curse. The higher the stat, the greater your chances of learning new Martial Arts and improving your Physique.]
[Your Martial Technique Stat has increased by +2,000.]
"W-What?!"
Paul nearly screamed as he saw the messages in front of him. What he read seemed utterly insane. He had unlocked a new stat out of nowhere, and it was so amazing that it wasn't even affected by the debuffs of his own Character Flaws!
If he could accumulate 10,000, he would get a 10% flat boost without debuffs, and if he could reach 50,000, then 50%, and so on!
The increment was exponential and incredible, but there was a catch: the stat couldn't increase in any way—absolutely no other way, not even through items that "boost all stats" or equipment—aside from battling, sparring, learning, and "gaining enlightenment" about martial arts.
It was a Stat made for the hardworking, try-hard gamers who would play a game for thousands of hours just to perfect their ability with it…
Now, he felt compelled to spar with Teressa from now on, and he might even ask Chris and the rest of his friends or subjects to help him with this, sparring endlessly for more and more of this wonderful stat.
And perhaps even more strength in other ways, such as learning new martial arts, or something…
["Interesting! I can feel that you've unlocked a part of your Martial Soul! I can sense within your very spirit that you've finally begun to embrace and enjoy the Martial Arts!"]
The Heavenly Demon naturally learned what had happened pretty quickly…
"I'm surprised I haven't gotten any of this with your help… I guess it couldn't be triggered through the transformation?"
["Whatever the case, it doesn't matter! Now your Soul is plenty strong. You should definitely return to the Heavenly Treasury and take some more Martial Art Scrolls, probably any other resources you can, so you can create pills to strengthen your Martial Soul."]
"Martial Soul? But it's called Martial Technique, and it's a stat."
["Hmm, I could swear I felt it was your Martial Soul… And that Heart Demon that appeared was likely among the things that triggered its awakening."]
"The hell is a Martial Soul?!"
["Tch! Damn brat! Is this how you treat your venerable previous life?! Until you fix your damned attitude, I'm not telling you anything else! It seems your strength has clouded your mind, making you all cocky and demanding. Damned brat! If I could, I would slap your face off!"]
"Ah, sorry! Sorry! Don't get mad! Come on…!"
Despite his pleading, the Heavenly Demon was gone… It seemed he was a bit moody, or perhaps he was always like this, and only now had Paul become too demanding, enough for the Heavenly Demon to dislike his attitude.
"I'd better act humbler next time… He's so difficult to deal with sometimes."
"That was a fine battle, my son. You make me proud. From now on, we'll spar every day to remain in top condition. We'll also exercise daily, and I'll teach you how to wield various weapons. Specializing in a single one will only be your doom. You must know how to wield many and always be prepared for danger. You have to learn to adapt and evolve in battle instead of remaining stagnant and locked to a single mastery," Teressa said, her aura of authority and pride overflowing from her body.
"I-I see… Thank you for the tip, Mother," Vlad nodded with a forced smile.
Feeling satisfied with today's activities, Paul quickly decided to log out after a brief conversation with Teressa about the spar and everything else. Chris had already logged out a minute ago, seeming too tired to continue. Ermelinda was the only one who stayed even after he left, making him realize Jese might be a more hardcore gamer than he was.
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